Pain is often a catalyst to success, but more often than not, unwanted memories can derail a person’s career. Thankfully for Tyrann Mathieu, the support system behind him helped solidify his character for the times to come. Misfortune is one thing, but the absence of one’s parents makes it even harder for people to deal with them.

Growing up, the New Orleans Saints Safety wasn’t so fortunate. His father was sentenced to prison without a possibility of parole and his mother abandoned him when he was just a child. That’s when his grandparents took him in and started caring for him. However, his bad luck didn’t stop there because his grandfather died in 1997. That’s when Mathieu found a permanent home.

His biological parents, Tyra Mathieu (mother) and Darry Hayes (father) never got married. After every support system behind Tyrann collapsed, his uncle and aunt, Tyrone and Sheila Mathew, took him in when he was in high school. Though Tyrone and Sheila did their best to accommodate Tyrann Mathieu, his life with them wasn’t a breeze, either.

His now father, Tyrone Smith, lost his home and belongings to Hurricane Katrina and Tyrann became homeless for a while. That might have been around 2005, as the hurricane hit in late August of that year. Throughout his life, football has been a constant motivation. The sport acted as a bridge between his desires and the normal life that everyone deserves.

Everything was fine until 2015. That’s when Mathieu’s mother Sheila had a run-in with the law. She was a registered nurse working for the New Orleans home healthcare company. Sheila was among 20 people who were charged with fraudulently billing Medicare services over $30 million. She faced 26 counts of indictment but was charged with only 3 of them.

Mathieu’s second father, Tyrone, couldn’t believe what had gone down. “We’re shocked. We’re all still soaking it in,” confirmed Tyrone Mathieu to NOLA.com. The proceedings went on and around August 2017, Sheila Mathieu, a former Zulu Queen, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year of probation.

While these hardships are taxing on mental and physical health, sometimes news outlets take inhumane routes to pester the ones affected. A similar thing happened with Tyrann Mathieu before he even joined the NFL.

Tyrann Mathieu’s struggle with Sports Illustrated

It was 2012 and Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel decided he wanted to do a story on the NFL safety. The story revolved around Mathieu’s adoptive parents, his father who was in jail, and substance use-related issues. The story also highlighted how Tyrann was promoting parties at a local nightclub that violated the NCAA policies. His dismissal from LSU was also a major chunk of the story.

The Mathieu family decided to hire a lawyer to deal with Sports Illustrated, pointing out how SI was pestering them and wouldn’t take no for an answer. “They called from blocked numbers repeatedly, asking me why I was dodging them,” said Tyrone Mathieu. “They came to my home and that of my elderly mother on multiple occasions.”

Later, WBRZ-TV, the Baton Rouge, La. ABC affiliate approached the club promoter, and he implied that SI bribed him to say negative things about Mathieu. After a lot of back and forth, the article was taken down, and it doesn’t exist anymore. However, things became better later on as he progressed in his career.

He played in a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs but lost to Tom Brady’s Buccaneers. His relationship with his biological father is gradually improving, and he even calls Tyrann from prison to wish him happy birthday too!